PlantFiles: Downy Rattlesnake Plantain, Adder's Violet
Goodyera pubescens

I'm very fond of this plant, regardless of the work it takes to winter it over in northern Illinois. I get my plants from a nursery on Dave's Garden, some I give away as gifts but I've also kept them as houseplants for years. To winter-over: cover with 4-5 inches of leaves as soon as you get a freeze, usually October. The ground must be moist; water if you need to. I then dump the dirt from all of my pots of outdoor annuals on top of that. You can use a couple of big bags of topsoil or blackdirt. Don't forget to rake it all back in the spring! ( The dirt can go back in pots for summer annuals )Up here, the last week of April is a good time, just keep an eye on the weather forecast. Like I said, I love this plant, and it's the only native wildflower I know of that will thrive and bloom as a houseplant.

On April second, nine plants in two batches broke through the leaf litter of an old tractor trail in mixed woods, swamp maple and Virginia pine. They are in heavy shade, in what would be moist soil most the year except during severe droughts. The site is near Millington on Maryland's Eastern shore.

Native Plant. Found in numerous locations on our property (mountains of Western North Carolina). Located by looking for the stalks poking up through leaves covering forest floor. Pulling back natural mulch layer of leaves the plant will be exposed. Make sure that a good layer of leaves is covering it up in the winter! When the stalk has to wind its way up through the natural layer of leaf covering, it will be twisted and have appearance of rattlesnake. After a few days of being completely uncovered, the stalk will straighten out.

Goodyera pubescens
This is a very easy hardy terrestrial orchid to grow. My
experiences are growing it in pots. The most important aspects of a successful cultivation of this species is:
a woodsy but porous soil that has excellent water retentive
qualities but does not become soggy and the use of untreated water, preferably steam distilled or deionized
through double reverse osmosis. It requires shade but can
tolerate either very early or very late sun. If grown in the
ground then I definitely recommend that unless your growing conditions already replicate the type of habitat this plant comes from that a 18" square furrow dug to 18" is made
and remove all the soil from this furrow. Prepare a soil mix using commercial leaf mold if available, fine shredded bark as is available for commercial orchid mixes especially for paphiopedilums, perlite, and peat moss. I would prepare the perlite and peat moss at 1:1 (be sure to work with peat moss that is damp and not dry at all). then add this to a 1:1 combo of the leaf mold and the shredded bark. This should provide an appropriate mix for successful cultivation. You may wish to topdress with a 1:1 mix of peat moss and the bark or the leaf mold (whichever looks ok to your tastes). If in the ground only water with a fine mist sprinkling can twice a week using a gallon of water each time. Do not overwater.
For pot cultivation using a comparable mix as above plant
the plants with the roots in the media and the stems at the
surface of the mix. cover lightly with a topdressing. water until water comes out of the bottom of the pot. Place your plant in your selected shady spot. I recommend misting the plant everyday at least once depending upon your humidity
levels. I mist every two or three hours except when I am asleep! We have low humidity here. Water twice weekly.
Here the plants will do well outside year round. Do not let
the potted plants freeze. The ground planted plants should
be mulched unless under a deciduous tree or a pine to protect the stems from freezing. Good luck.

Tricky to grow, but rewarding, I am confused by conflicting recommendations for watering. Some say dry, some say wet. I don't believe they like it dry. I have four of them purchased from a nursery in Virginia. One seems to have disappeared, one is really healthy and blooming and the other two are kind of lame looking. They have nicely acidic soil, but I suspect that watering is the problem. Also, the pine bark mulch I have used may be too large. It tends to cover them up if I don't keep an eye on them.

A beautiful little plant - a native orchid, quite rare here in Missouri. Grows slowly to form colonies. Protected from collecting at the only site where I have seen it, and probably for good reason...must be fussy about growing conditions or it would be seen in more places. I read that people used to collect it for use in terrariums, but there are many more plants than can be bought to use instead, such as Fittonia (Nerve Plant). I saw a very similar plant in Colorado, Goodyera oblongifolia.

I have not found it to like dry, sandy soil. It grows naturally here in deep shade and there is red clay under the humusy top soil here in the mtns. of NC. Nor is it very rare here. I plan to try a little culture with it and see how it responds. Will post here later.
This remark is on 6/18/06. I had a rehab done to my house and found building materials laying on top of my rattlesnake plantain! I moved them quickly and put a marker up. I did give them a little Black Kow and they have spread more than expected. I see they are beginning to put up bloom stalks. Smiling here.

Goodyera pubescens is spreads by rhizomes, but is very slow to spread. It is native to the U.S. It typically flowers from July - August. It prefers light shade to fully sun and acidic soil.

This plant has been found growing wild in Zone 5. Historically the plants' roots and leaves were used medicinally in the treatment of tuberculosis. It is very rare and should not be harvested.